


Rookie Care and Maintenance

by Vidriana



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Nicky and Alex are the caps dads, Not a kid fic, Team as Family, more like a Team Dads fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:33:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9087088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vidriana/pseuds/Vidriana
Summary: Nicky quickly typed 'Need to reschedule, the children need me tonight' before re-pocketing his phone and turning to an expectant André. 
   “Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m going to go home and cook us dinner,” Nicky started, and André made an excited noise. “And you,” Nicky continued, “are going to bring Tom over to my house at 8 and we’ll all spend some time together.” A guide by the two dads of the Washington Capitals.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xihale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xihale/gifts).



> Dear xihale,
> 
> I hope you enjoy this little story! It's probably a lot fluffier than you expected, but I figured since it has a lot of caps feels in there, you might like it. My original plan involved a lot more drama, but I sadly ran out of time, so this is kind of a pinch hit for myself? Have this fluffy fic about Nicky and Alex dealing with their teammates for now, there might be a longer, more dramatic story in your future ;)
> 
> I'm aware that Andre and Tom aren't rookies, but I liked this title best. Nicky and Alex refer to them as their children sometimes, but this is obviously not a kidfic, so i hope that's okay.

“Hey, Papa! Wait for me!”

Nicky sighed, but obediently stopped and let André catch up to him. Since André was André, he didn’t just stop next to Nicky like a normal person, but instead threw his arms around Nicky’s neck and gave him a full-body hug. Nicky wasn’t exactly small, so he had no idea why almost everyone on his team was taller than him.

“Do you want to come over for dinner? I’m cooking. Trying to anyway,” André said enthusiastically and Nicky silently considered how likely it was that he would be blamed for a resulting housefire, if he left André unsupervised.

“Why don’t you have dinner with Tom? Isn’t that your thing now?” Nicky asked, trying to avoid shooting down André without having to agree to potential food poisoning. 

André made a face. “Tom’s skyping Mike tonight and he’s always moping around afterwards, so I don’t think he wants to spend time with me.”

Nicky thought about that for a moment. Of course they all missed Mike; he’d been an integral part of the team, even if he hadn’t been integral to play, but no one had been hit harder by his departure than Tom. He’d become a lot quieter, which presented itself as a newfound maturity on the ice, but he also seemed sadder off the ice, so Nicky wasn’t all too happy about it. And that Tom didn’t seem to want to spend time with André was frankly concerning.

With another sigh, Nicky dislodged André from his neck and pulled out his phone. He quickly typed _Need to reschedule, the children need me tonight_ before re-pocketing his phone and turning to an expectant André. 

“Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m going to go home and cook us dinner,” Nicky started, and André made an excited noise. “And you,” Nicky continued, “are going to bring Tom over to my house at 8 and we’ll all spend some time together.”

While André proclaimed his enthusiastic agreement to that plan, Nicky’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. _Children come first! Give Burt kiss from me!_ flashed on his display and Nicky couldn’t help but smile. 

“Ohhh, you look happy!” André remarked with a grin on his face. Nicky tried to school his features into a somewhat neutral expression, but didn’t quite succeed. Instead, he pulled André down to his level and gently laid a kiss on his forehead.

“I am.”

__________

Alex was one of the few players still out on the ice after practice. The Caps hadn’t been playing as well as he’d like, partially because he wasn’t scoring as much as usual, so he’d decided to stay behind and take some more shots. There was something almost meditative about it, letting his body do what it did best and watching the pucks hit the back of the net.

Eventually, he stopped. He shouldn’t stay too late, since he had plans for the evening. Still, he was surprised to see that he wasn’t the only one left. There was a lone figure still taking shots at the other side of the rink, setting up pucks just at the hashmarks and hitting them towards the net. His form was good, but he seemed to be gripping his stick a bit to hard and his whole body looked tense.

Alex looked at the large clock mounted high enough to be easily visible from the ice. He should get going, if he didn’t want to risk being late, but… He shot one more look at the player still on the ice. He was wearing full gear and a helmet, but Alex clearly recognized him as Jakub Vrana, their new left winger, freshly called up from the Hershey Bears and playing his first NHL season.

With a sigh, Alex left the ice, walked into the locker room and grabbed his phone. _Can’t make tonight. Need to teach new rookie one timers_ he typed out, before setting his phone back down, wobbling back out on the ice, and skating over to Vrana.

He watched the kid for a moment, from just outside the faceoff circle, before approaching him. “You need to relax,” he said and the kid flinched. He obviously hadn’t noticed Alex before, and turned carefully. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were still here, ” Vrana said, not quite meeting Alex’s eyes. 

Alex just shook his head slightly. “I’m here. I can help now,” he offered, and Vrana started to turn red. 

“Oh no, that’s, I mean, it really isn’t-,” he stuttered out and Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes, a clear sign that he was spending too much time with Nicky. 

“I’m captain and I can help you, so start shooting,” Alex said, maybe a bit harsher than necessary, but it seemed to do the trick. Vrana turned back towards the net, nervously glanced at Alex one more time, and shot one of the pucks lying in front of him at the empty net. When Alex didn’t comment or react in any other way, Vrana moved another puck into position and took another shot. 

He got ten shots in before Alex stopped him with a raised hand. “You’re good, but you need to be more flexible. I pass to you and then you shoot,” he declared and instantly started passing Vrana pucks to shot. Vrana fumbled the first one, but recovered quickly and was ready to receive all the following passes. 

“Good,” Alex said approvingly, “Now we try something different. Keep on your toes.” Instead of passing to Vrana directly, he started bouncing pucks off the boards towards him. 

Over the course of the next hour, Alex tried out different ways to pass Vrana the puck. It felt a bit strange; he was more used to being on the receiving end of the passes in this drill, but the practice also reminded him of the hours spent at the rink after practice with Nicky, trying to perfect their play together.

“Enough for today.” Alex finally relented, after Vrana’s shots had started losing some of their force due to the poor kid’s fatigue. 

“But I can keep going!” Vrana protested, even though he looked clearly exhausted.

“No, we’re leaving. You clean up the pucks and then we get dinner,” Alex decided and Vrana made a vaguely protesting, surprised noise, but apparently thought better of arguing with his captain. 

While the rookie was collecting the pucks, Alex already left the ice and changed out of his gear. When he’d just stripped off his pads, he thought to check his phone. Sure enough, there was a message waiting for him. _Don’t scare him too much, he looks up to you. No idea why_ the message read and Alex grinned down at his phone.

Before he could decide how to respond to the friendly chirp, he heard a shuffle at the locker room entrance and Vrana came wobbling in on his skates. He’d taken off his helmet and his hair was sweat soaked and sticking to the side of his head. He shot Alex a nervous look, seemed to brace himself to say something, but then apparently thought better of it because he turned away, walked to his locker, and started taking off his gear as well.

Alex didn’t push it. The kid would talk, if he wanted to talk. Alex just continued to strip and headed to the showers.

When Alex came out of the showers, Vrana was still sitting in his stall, his head leaned back against the wooden frame, his eyes closed. Alex stopped in front of him. 

“You okay?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t overworked him. Vrana’s head snapped up and he turned red.

“Yeah, of course, I, uhm-” he started and Alex turned to get dressed, satisfied that he hadn’t damaged his new rookie. 

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Vrana rushed out, finally. “I mean, you didn’t have to do that.”

Alex considered that. “You’re on my team now. I make sure you have a good shot.” Vrana turned even redder and Alex was pretty sure it wasn’t just from exhaustion this time.

“Still. Thank you,” Vrana said again, actually looking at Alex this time.

Alex smiled at him while he buttoned up his shirt. “You’re welcome. Now hurry up, we're going out for dinner and I don’t want to wait,” Alex said, leaning against the locker room door. Vrana sputtered and promptly got tangled up in his elbow pads while trying to take them off faster.

Alex laughed. He really loved his team.

__________

Nicky was so tired.

It had been a long and gruesome game. Games against divisional rivals were always physical and Nicky was essential enough to the Caps’ play that he got targeted quite a bit. His wrist ached from a slashing, and he was pretty sure the whole right side of his body was bruised from when he’d been crushed against the boards. 

They’d won though, and that was the most important thing. Now he just wanted to go home.

Walking through the parking garage at the Verizon Center, he spotted André and Kuzy hanging around his car, obviously waiting for him. Nicky suppressed a groan. He loved his teammates, he just really didn’t feel like dealing with them right now. 

He reached his car and was about to wave the two of them off, when both their phones buzzed at the same time. 

Both looked down at the new message and started grinning.

“I was going to invite you to dinner, but it looks like you have better things to do,” André said, still grinning brightly.

Kuzy nodded. “I guess we better leave you alone. Have a nice evening,” he said and then grabbed André and dragged him towards his own car. 

Nicky had no idea what just happened, but he didn’t really feel like questioning his luck right now. He climbed into his car and started driving.

__________

Nicky unlocked the door and let himself in. No excited barking greeted him, which meant Alex had already locked out the dogs. Nicky had mostly gotten used to them over the years, but he still appreciated the gesture. 

He took off his coat and walked into the kitchen, following a delicious smell. Alex was standing at the stove, checking on a pan he’d just put into the oven. Nicky stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around Alex, letting his forehead drop against Alex’s shoulder blade.

“Welcome home,” Alex said, clearly amused. Nicky groaned. 

Alex gently untangled Nicky’s arms from his waist and turned around. He grabbed Nicky’s chin and pulled him into a slow kiss. Nicky let himself be pulled and ran a hand through Alex’s hair while they kissed. When they pulled apart, he tried to look past Alex and into the oven.

“How did you have time to make dinner? You didn’t leave that long before I did,” Nicky asked, and Alex shrugged.

“Meal service. I’m just warming it up,” he admitted. Nicky smiled.

“And then you sent the rookies to distract me in case I’d be too early,” he guessed and Alex grinned at him.

“It’s their fault we’ve barely seen each other for the last month. Every day before off day there’s some emergency. Least they can do is be useful and distract you,” Alex admitted, still grinning.

Nicky grinned back.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
